Brazilian couple are ‘really going to miss Dundee’ after documenting city on Instagram for 12 months

A Brazilian couple have spent the last year documenting their time in Dundee on Instagram.

Married couple Tiago Silva and Juliana Vargas, both 33, arrived in the city in January last year to study for a year.

They set up an Instagram account under the handle “dundee4ayear” so they could document their experiences of the city for friends and family back home.

With their courses completed, the pair are set to fly back home for good in two weeks’ time.

Tiago, a lawyer by trade, said: “We feel like we have a home here now.

“Dundee is a very beautiful place — we’ve spent a lot of good days on Magdalen Green.

“We adjusted to life well here. As a lawyer at home, I always had the air conditioning on in the car and in the office, wearing a suit all the time, but I haven’t had to do that here.

“It’s so different. I think we are really going to miss Dundee.”

Among the discoveries they have documented in the last 12 months are some of the city’s trendiest eating spots, coffee shops and bars, its burgeoning array of museums and galleries, and the sights and sounds of major music festival Carnival Fifty Six.

Tiago added: “We have been to Coachella in the US twice, and have been to a lot of festivals back in Brazil. But between the atmosphere, the people, the quality of the music and the food and stands, Carnival Fifty Six had it all.”

The couple even had some family over during the summer who were equally enamoured with the city.

Tiago said his mother was now Dundee’s “number one fan”.

Although their pictures documented the city’s streets, sights and landmarks like the Law, the couple said that above all else what they loved about Dundee was its people.

Tiago added: “While we’ve been staying here, we’ve also travelled to 15 countries in Europe — and while we’ve loved them, I think Scotland was by far the country that we’ve fallen in love with.

“Without fail, every time I have sat in a pub with a drink by myself I have found someone to have a conversation with. People in Dundee always want to know where I’m from and what things are like back home.

“Plus, because I’ve been at the university, I have made friends from all over the world.”

Dundee has been continuing its gradual transformation in the year the couple have spent here — something the pair said they had noticed.

Juliana said she could even see herself living here in the future.

She said: “I don’t want to leave here — we’ve been so amazed by the city.

“A friend of my mother’s came here 10 years ago and said there was nothing to do — but it has changed completely.

“Now that I’ve told them about what’s changing, they have said they want to come back to see it.”

Tiago added: “It’s amazing to see publications like the Wall Street Journal talking about Dundee now. We get the feeling that the city will keep changing for the better.

“After the news about the European Capital of Culture being cancelled because of Brexit came out, I didn’t feel that would deter the city from going forward.”

Tiago and Juliana are set to leave Dundee at the end of the month, flying back to their home city of Belo Horizonte.

However, they have vowed to return for Tiago’s graduation from the University of Dundee in the summer.

He added: “We will definitely miss Dundee. The city and its people have been so welcoming.”